Page 32

Seraphina

A soft flurry of kisses pulls me from sleep, my Alphas’ lips brushing my cheeks, my forehead, my lips, their purrs a quiet chorus, a perfect melody. “Morning, Fi,” Lyle muses as he brushes my sweat soaked hair from my face. I’m still sprawled across Ambrose’s chest but his cock is no longer inside of me, the sticky situation of my nest starting to feel a little gross.

My nose scrunches up in disgust, Lyle chuckling as he gathers me up in his arms and carries me to the bathroom. “Time to get you cleaned up, baby girl.” I’m too tired to protest as he lovingly washes every inch of me before drawing me a bath, filled with mint and cucumber melon bubbles. “We’re going to get your nest cleaned up and get breakfast. Do you want one of us to stay with you?”

Strangely, I don’t. I need to process everything that happened and while I want to cling to them, I know that they’re just outside the door. “I think I’m okay,” I murmur as he kisses me again before heading out into the bedroom. He leaves the door ajar and I sink beneath the bubbles, allowing myself to relax after my first successful heat.

I never thought I’d have one. I never thought I’d have a loving Alpha either. Those last two days, what I can remember of it warms my heart and then I’m embarrassed, the memory of all three of them filling me at once making me sink even further into the water. No wonder my ass is sore.

And yet, still I realize that instead of horror or fear, I’m falling in love with them. A smile creeps onto my lips as I sift the bubbles through my fingers, about to lay my head back and relax when a new scent catches me off guard. A spark of sweetness weaving through my wild berry essence, like ripe raspberries and rose petals. It’s an added scent to mine, faint but there.

No.

No, no, no no!

I scramble from the tub on weak legs and rush back to the nest, glad that my Alphas aren’t in here. It takes me entirely too long to find my phone, the cold air rushing against my skin only making me panic more. “Victoria, something’s wrong. My scent, it’s different, sweeter, like berries and rose.”

“Seraphina, a sweetened twinge to an Omega’s scent doesn’t always mean you’re pregnant. I’m assuming that’s why you called. Honey, that scent doesn’t happen immediately, usually after a day or so. When was your heat?”

I realize I forgot to update her on everything but it’s too late to apologize for that now. “A few days ago. It just broke last night or this morning? I don’t know but I was taking a bath and I just… I was on birth control!” I can’t be pregnant. We just started falling together. We haven’t talked about children or what that would even look like for an Omega who can’t step outside. I would miss so many parts of their childhood. They would resent me, I know it.

“Deep breaths, Seraphina. I can hear you starting to spiral. There you go. Now, please have a seat somewhere. Are you sitting?” I mumble a yes and she continues. “There’s nothing that’s going to work one hundred percent, even less when you’re in heat. You know I’m with you every step of the way, but correct me if I’m wrong, the Alphas you shared a heat with are more than just delicious strangers?”

I nod, a sigh escaping at the inevitability. “Yeah, they’re… they’re my Alphas.”

“Then personally, not as your doctor, I think you should bring it up with them. If they truly love you, they will embrace all of you.”

My throat tightens, fear and hope tangling in my chest. “And professionally?”

“As your doctor, it’s your body,. You tell me what you want to do, and I’ll make sure it happens, and if I still need to come rescue you from them, I will.”

That makes me laugh even as I lay a hand on my belly, soap suds slipping down my body. I sure I seem a mess. Needing a few more moments to myself, I wander back into the bathroom and slip back into the tub, cradling the phone against my ear. “What do I do in the meantime?”

“Well, if they haven’t noticed already, they will,” she says, a smile in her voice. “They’ll be highly in tune with you so close after the heat. I can come over and give you an official pregnancy test, well, as official as I can in-house, but it’ll have to be at least a week or two from now to gauge anything.”

“Okay,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

“Seraphina, I’ve been your doctor since you were a kid and let me tell you that you have some wonderful people in your corner. I’ve caught a whiff of those Alphas several times over the years but never wanted to pry. However, the smile on your face and how happy your Omega always was? That was in some part due to them. Don’t push them away before finding out where they stand.”

She says it like she did something like that but I don’t feel comfortable asking as we say our goodbyes. I soak a little longer, mulling over my options. Secretly, deep down, I’ve always wanted kids. I wanted a family of my own and while this wasn’t on purpose, it’s a chance to move forward. It’s a terrifying step but the thought of holding a child in my arms brings a smile to my face.

I have to tell them, don’t I?

And I will, right after I soak myself into oblivion.

Refreshed and fully clothed, my hair pinned up on top of my head, I step out into the hallway and make a beeline for the living room where there’s an entire spread of spicy tacos and all the fixings. I swear it’s what we eat most days when I don’t cook but I’m not complaining in the slightest. There’s also a pot of coffee that I eagerly reach for, Ambrose pouring me a healthy cup and adding cream before handing to me.

It takes me entirely too long to realize what’s different, my gaze falling on the patio doors that are usually curtained. Panic flares in my chest before it’s replaced with awe, the reds and oranges bleeding across the sky. Lyle scrambles to his feet to close it but I just shake my head. “It’s been years since I’ve seen a proper sunset, Lyle. Not a real one anyway. I forgot how beautiful it was.” My throat tightens, the colors blurring through unshed tears, and I swallow carefully, moving to sit near Ambrose on the floor. “Can… can we open the windows?” I want to feel the night air on my skin and while I might not step outside, I’m safe right here.

Lyle’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead before he obliges, open the doors just a crack, a soft breeze slipping in, carrying the scent the evening. For the first time in forever, I’m staring at the outside, the world vast and terrifying but beautiful, too. God, I’ve missed so goddamn much.

Tears gather in my eyes as I set my mug on the table, turning to meet their gazes one at a time. “I never thought it’d feel like this. I thought I would always be scared but I’m not and I’m falling for each of you. I think I might have already fallen and just refused to acknowledge it.” My hands drop to my belly as I let out a deep breath. “I want this. All of this and you’ve told me that you want me too but would you still want me if I came with more than just me?”

A tear falls down my cheek as silence meets my question, Ambrose’s gaze dipping to my belly and then back to my face. “Sweet girl, are you carrying our child?”

I nod, my eyes stinging as I wring my hands in my lap. “Victoria is going to come over next week and check, but I… I didn’t plan this, I swear. I just…”

Callum kneels beside me, his hands cupping my face as his thumbs brush my tears away. “Sweetheart, we want you, all of you, however that happens, and you bringing us a child just means another bundle of happiness in our lives.”

“But I can’t even go outside, how would that work?”

Lyle sits beside me, his arm sliding around my shoulders. “Baby girl, you had us open the patio doors today. That’s a bigger step than you’ve made in the last few years. I think you’ll be just fine. I think we all.”